Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

is as in the dark—metaphorically and physically—as we are about this decision. It is unfathomable. It is a difficult one for us to come to grips with because effectively the government are abolishing a scheme which they created to mitigate the effects of their having attacked Medibank.

We know that when the Minister for Health and Ageing says in this place that the government is the best friend Medicare has ever had he does so ironically. If it is ever in a parliamentary question, he should be asked to sit down because he would be using irony. We know that; it is an in joke. He turns to government members and says, ‘This government is the best friend that Medicare ever had,’ and they all have a laugh because they know what he means—that they will boil the frog slowly on the universal health system. They want to corrode it; they want to destroy it. We know that. One of the ways they are going about that is by selling an institution which they created in 1976.

When you compare this government with even previous tory administrations you see that this is an extreme government. These decisions—to enact the Work Choices legislation, to sell Medibank Private—reflect a government full of arrogance and hubris. We know why this is occurring—because they have the power to do so. If they had a minority in the Senate, they would not be suggesting this. They think they now have the power to do absolutely anything. If I had time and it was relevant to this debate, I would talk about what the government did to the Senate committees, how they found themselves chair of every committee. That has had a number of consequences and is a symptom of a government that is not in touch with the Australian people and is certainly now pursuing its ideological obsessions.

The industrial relations stuff that the Prime Minister has been ranting on about for 30 years is now upon us. His dream is becoming Australia’s reality—or Australia’s nightmare. And the reasons for the sale of Medibank Private are the same—no cogent argument, not good public policy. In fact the argument of reducing premiums is contrary to all evidence, which suggests that the premiums will rise. Therefore, this is not rational argument that has been put forward cogently by the government.

The government know they have the power. They no longer think they have to explain why they want to make changes to the Australian society that we love. They no longer believe they have to put up arguments. In this debate, there are no government members. The reason why the government have to gag the debate is, firstly, to show us how powerful they are; secondly, they do not have anyone to contribute to the debate. After I have finished, another Labor member will contribute to this debate, which will finish at 1.30—gagged by the government because they do not have any cogent arguments as to why Medibank Private is to be sold. If they had decent arguments, you would expect them to put them forward. So this gag is not just about hurting us; it is about allowing the government to avoid explaining the inexplicable. Why would you sell Medibank Private when you know it has been keeping premiums down?

There is one other concern that the shadow minister for health and the Leader of the Opposition raised today, and that is the concern about whether a debt will be owed to members of the fund upon the sale of Medibank Private. As we have heard from the Leader of the Opposition and others, some very good, independent advice has been provided by the Parliamentary Library that suggests that, upon the sale, there will be a debt owed to members of the fund. The response from the government was, ‘We paid for some private advice, and our lawyers told us that there will be no problem, there will be no debt; there will be no entitlement owed to members of the fund.’ So we have to decide whether we will support the independent advice provided by the Parliamentary Library or whether we will listen to the advice that the government paid for and wanted to hear. Our choice is between the advice provided by the government and the independent advice provided by the Parliamentary Library.

I know who I will be listening to with respect to this matter. The library has raised some serious concerns with respect to that. Indeed, in the Bills Digest it says:

... it is arguable that members of Medibank Private could be entitled to compensation if the terms of any sale do not adequately account for their right to the benefit of fund assets.

It continues:

The Research Brief refers to Medibank Private’s 2005 annual report, which cites a net asset figure of $653.3 million. It is this figure in respect of which members entitlements is discussed ....

Mr Deputy Speaker, some serious advice has been provided by independent experts, and the government have chosen to ignore them. Instead, they listen to the advice of Blake Dawson Waldron—which they paid for; and, of course, he who pays the piper calls the tune. The government do not care to give a reason. They do not even try to find an argument. They will not allow the debate to continue beyond 1.30 today. They will not allow people who represent constituents across this country to defend Medibank Private.

This government is arrogant and out of touch, and it is using its power to crush debate in this place. It will force this bill through this chamber and will not allow people to speak. It will then force this bill through the Senate and we will have sold an institution that was created by a former conservative government to mitigate the effects of their decisions about Medibank in 1976.

The Australian public have to understand this fully and must not be fooled by the arguments of the Minister for Health and Ageing. The arguments are not reasonable, and they do not make sense. I am sure that, come election day, there will certainly be a referendum on this decision. I know many Australians will decide they want to keep Medibank Private in government hands and they will not support the sale.

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